Vehicle.



No. 666,093. mama Ian. l5, I90l.

r. FRANZ.

VEHICLE.

(Application filed Sept. 14, 1900.)

(No Model.)

E Norms PETERS no worou uu. WASHINGTON u c NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRICH FRANZ, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 666,093. dated January15, 1901.

Application filed September 14, 1900. Serial No. 29,985. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH FRANZ,a citizen of the United'States,residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Vehicle, ofwhich the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements on carriages and wagons, one objectof myinvention being to produce a simple and efficient mechanism wherebya carriage or wagon can be steered easily and quickly.

A further object is to produce a vehicle with a simple and efficientsteering-gear whereby a carriage or wagon can be made to turn very sharpcorners by a slight swinging of the axles of the wagon.

With these objects in view the invention consists of several novelfeatures of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, ashereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a top view or plan of asteering-gear having the operating wheel or lever located between theaxles, and Fig. 2 shows a side view of the same mechanism.

All similar numbers of reference refer to similar parts in the'twofigures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 are chains whose ends are fastened tothe axles 3 and 4, respectively, at the points 5 and 6 7 and 8. Thechains 1 and 2 work with sprocket-wheels 9 and 10, respectively, thesprocket-wheel 9 being mounted on shaft 11, on which is also rigidlyfastened a gear-wheel 12, which works with another gear-wheel 13 of thesame size, fastened on the rod or shaft 14. To the lower end of theshaft or rod 14 is rigidly fastened the sprocket-wheel 10, and to theupper end of the rod or shaft 11 is fastened the wheel or lever 15, bymeans of which the steering-gear operates. The shafts 11 and 14 areprovided with suitable bearings, in

which they work. The axles 3 and 4 and the running-gears to which theyare fastened are also provided with center-plates 16 and 17, about whichthe running-gears or axles are capable of swinging. Each of the axles 3and 4 is provided with a fifth-wheel 1S and a center-plate, so that theaxles may be revolved about their centers independently andsimultaneously.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: On turning the hand wheelor lever 15 motion is imparted to both the sprocketwheels 9 and 10-to 9directly through the shaft 11 and to 10 through the medium of thegear-wheels l2 and 13. The chains 1 and 2, meshing with thesprocket-wheels 9 and 10, respectively, will cause the axles 3 and 4 andthe running-gears, of which they form a part, to swing about thecenter-plates 16 and 17, respectively. This motion will swing the axlesin opposite directions, so that the inner wheels will be brought closertogether and the outer wheels farther apart, thus enabling the wagon toturn a sharp curve with a comparatively small swing of the axles.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a vehicle, the combination of two axles arranged so as to swingsimultaneously about their centers and a chain attached to each of saidaxles at two points practically equidistant from the center of saidaxle, and two vertical shafts upon which are mounted two gears workingtogether and two sprocket-wheels over which the said chains pass,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscrib-- F. W. EWALD, L. N. LERLIGSBERG.

